• L I S T E N I N G
F O R
A
C H A N G E •
www.listeningforachange.org
info@listeningforachange.org 707-578-5420
4908 Sonoma Hwy., Ste. B, Santa Rosa, CA 95409
History with Education: Listening for a Change began in 1988 as the Sonoma County Survivor
Project. As a community Sponsored Program through Sonoma State University’s Academic
Foundation, our initial work was an oral history/photographic project in which oral history interviews
were conducted of three Sonoma County communities who had dramatically lost human rights.
These included Cambodians from the Pol Pot regime, Japanese Americans who were interned
during World War II, and Shoah/Holocaust survivors from Nazi Europe. All had to gather their
belongings in a short amount of time, not knowing that they were being sent to some kind of
“camp.” Photographs were of ordinary people, our neighbors. This program is the foundation of
all Listening for a Change work—It is imperative not to dismiss people as “others” but to come to
know, understand, and accept. This is the hope of a respectful, strong, civil society.
Curriculum materials for teachers and their students were created for the original Sonoma County
Survivor Project. This exhibit can still be seen by going to http://listeningforachange.org/videostories/sonoma-county-survivor-project/ Next, we wrote a curriculum called Essence of
Acceptance which offers lessons for teaching human rights, oral history taking, finding interviewees
linked to student studies, and creating a service-learning project. This project was successfully
piloted with all of the ninth grade social studies and language arts classes at Maria Carrillo High
School in Santa Rosa. It has been implemented in Petaluma, Healdsburg, Redwood City,
Woodside, with high needs classes of the Sonoma County Office of Education, and in summer
workshops at Sonoma State University. It was successfully piloted with Los Angeles Office of
Education, but with the effect of No Child Left Behind, was never fully implemented.
The Neighborhood Listening Project was developed with the Sonoma County Office of Education
and the Marin Office of Education for high needs students through their programming. Though the
concept of interviewing people you know or community “neighbors” whose stories have not be
shared, this program can be used in multiple ways in grades 3-12. Exploring family and community
assets is a strong piece of this work. Classrooms have often selected themes to explore and found
interviewees accordingly. Examples have included: immigrants, justice, cancer, veterans, LGBTQI,
etc. The Neighborhood Listening Project is a County of Sonoma approved Upstream Investment
program, level 3. For additional evidence-based information, please contact our office.
Listening for a Change’s work is the foundation for Restorative Practices in the schools where
storytelling offers a unique and familiar way for students of all ages, staff, and families to engage
with one another and lay the foundation for developing healthy relationships. Listening for a
Change is built of the conviction that we are Creating Connections, One Story at a Time and it is
imperative we find meaningful ways to understand the rich and complex cultures among us. Our
organization works with classrooms, schools, and districts to help tailor enriching and engaging
experiences for your needs.